Month: September 2016

We have only limited police resources. It is all a matter of priorities. It takes quite a few officers off the streets to run one of these stings. Generally, the police put an undercover female officer on the North Tamiami trail making eye contact with passing drivers. The female officers will flirt and give off subtle signals to the passing men. If the men pull over, the female detective will walk up to the car and engage in suggestive comments and questions. Just pulling over and talking is enough to get you arrested. The men who are arrested have their cars seized and are subject to a $5000 civil penalty. The operations have “back up” in the form of uniformed officers and this generally ties up a half dozen policemen for several days.

Is it really worth it?

Prostitution is the oldest profession and has been around since the beginning of time. These operations target the “street walkers”, and the men who pull over, and not the high end prostitutes that work the hotel bars blocks away. Most of the real “hookers” are drug addicts and borderline homeless people who in desperation are selling sex to survive. These operations rarely go after the women hanging at the bar in the Ritz Carlton or Hyatt Regency or the downtown late night bars. Just getting arrested will result in your name in the paper and being placed on Mugshots.com. After that a Google search of your name will almost always result in a “hit” and prospective employers in the future will see and read of your arrest. Many men simply will not bother to fight this kind of entrapment and end up with a misdemeanor conviction, fine or civil penalty. My comment to the police is “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”. These stings can destroy a person’s future forever. The same resources should be devoted to helping the “hookers” get off drugs, get off the streets and find a place to live. These women are desperate and need help. An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.

The operation targeted street level drug dealers. Many of the men arrested had prior convictions. The operation targeted street level drug dealers. Many of the men arrested had prior convictions

Many, if not most, of the users are white.

What is desperately needed here in Sarasota is more emphasis on treatment and prevention.

As long as the demand is there, there will be supply. That is basic “Economics 101”. Many of the young men in the black community have little or no education, no opportunity and no way of surviving on less than minimum wage, and turn to drug dealing to survive. For those that come out of prison after a conviction, they have no chance whatsoever. Who will hire a black man with a felony conviction in Sarasota? For that matter, who will hire a white man with a drug conviction? The prison system is a total failure. It focuses on punishment only and does nothing to make people productive when they get out. No training, no jobs, no opportunity, no nothing.

As a taxpayer, I would rather see more emphasis on giving people in prison training. That way they will have some chance of not returning. Prison is a revolving door because nothing is done in prison to help people, only punish them. Why do we have a heroin problem here? Who is using the heroin? Why are they using it? I have been blogging on this for years. When the Statewide prescription database came in, the supply of prescribed Oxycontin and Oxycodone dried up. The white doctors that had been making a fortune in the pill mill business could no longer freely write the scripts. That left thousands of people that were addicted to pills with a habit and no supply. Heroin was the obvious alternative. I would be willing to bet that nine out of ten heroin addicts are previous pill addicts. This was predictable and should have been anticipated.

Drug addiction is a medical problem that causes crime.

If the addicts had a viable alternative with treatment slowly getting them off drugs they would not be in the “hood” buying heroin laced with killer additives. Drug treatment is the answer. Until that happens, this problem will not be solved. As a Sarasota criminal lawyer, and as a former Federal prosecutor, I see both sides of the problem. The police see only one. Drug Court is a fantastic program but we need to reach the addicts before they get arrested. Our chief of police is well intentioned, but the problem is that addiction creates crime. You have to get to the cause. Law enforcement alone will never solve it. Call 941 366 3506 if a loved one is arrested for drugs